From Alcaraz to Djokovic: a 20 year journey to the top

Former doubles world number one Australia’s Paul McNamee believes that it would take Spain’s young sensation Carlos Alcaraz 20 years to match what Serbia’s legendary tennis star Novak Djokovic has achieved in his career. The 21-year-old is already regarded as one of the best men’s tennis players in the singles category, along with Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Djokovic.

Alcaraz, despite being so young, is already being tipped for greatness along with Sinner. Many pundits believe that the Spaniard has the talent to become one of the greatest players of all time. However, former Australian tennis player and doubles world number one McNamee believes that it would take as much as two decades for the current world number three to match what Djokovic has achieved in his career.

“It will take 20 years for someone like Alcaraz to break Novak’s Grand Slam record – it’s not impossible, but it’s unlikely,” he said. “So, in twenty years, Novak will be talked about as the greatest of all time. Forget all personal affinities, his biography is the greatest. Personally, I never called him the greatest until the Olympics, I said that everyone should finish their careers first, but the gold at the Olympics cemented Novak’s status already now. An enormous success, not only because of the gold, but also the way he got it – he played a fantastic match against an outstanding tennis player like Alcaraz.”

Djokovic is regarded by many as the greatest player in the history of men’s tennis in the singles category in the Open era, having won as many as 24 Grand Slam titles. The Belgrade-born needs to win one more major in his career to become the first player ever, both in men’s and women’s tennis, in the history of tennis in the Open era to win 25 Grand Slam titles. On the other hand, Alcaraz has already won four Grand Slams in his career. He won two major titles this year as well.